My son is a very keen cyclist and for his 10th birthday asked if I could take him for a cycling weekend so a plan was hatched.    

In order to make the weekend more memorable I also invited his Auntie & Uncle who both enjoy cycling.

 

The criteria I had to work with 

40miles max per day

A mixture of road/bridleways/NCN

Plenty of food/drink stops

B&B for the night with food close by

 

I chose Buxton as I've done a lot of day trips cycling there and back and found lots of lovely roads/trails/sights & Cafes so I was happy we could easily deal with any eventuality, thank fully we had an incident free weekend (well, almost).

 

Day 1 consisted of setting off at 10am and heading out along NCN62 & accross to & skirting around Langsett Resevour, the lead us nicely to the climb out of Midhopestones (where the Tour De France route went in 2014) & onto the decent down Deliverence, at this point the heavens opened and at speeds close to 40mph & a strong headwind the rain was really stinging,n after clearing the bend at the bottom the climb up Ewden bank arrived.  With Ewden bank completed we followed the Tour De France route along and turned off at High Bradfield heading to our first stop at the Post Office Cafe in Low Bradfield.

My brother/sister & son

 

The rain was now starting to subside as we climbed out of Low Bradfield up Blindside Lane and upto Snake Pass, after a quick descent down to Lady Bower we turned left then right and took to the smaller roads and rode through to Hope for some much needed food & drink.  

 

From Hope we cycled round towards Edale where the 1st real challenge of the day awaited.  We took the right turn onto Chapel Gate bridleway where my sister couldn't believe what she was looking at, my sons face was the complete opposite as he shot off up the hill

 

Once we were up Chapel Gate and down Rushop Edge, the No Car Cafe was our next and final stop for the day

 

Tiredness was now creeping in, 28miles done so far with a lot of climbing, the headwind remained relentless but the skies had cleared keeping everyone's spirits high.

 

From here it was a straight run to Buxton with one final ascent from the Quarry up-to the Golf course where we took the bridleway through the middle of.

 

We stopped at Hawthorne Farm B&B, got showered & then off for more food & drink before bed.

 

Daily Stats

40.5miles 

3999ft climbed

4hr 15min riding time

Edited 23 May, 20179 yr by DarkPeakCycles

Day 2

 

After a good nights sleep, bleary eyed we all went down for breakfast

Cereal eaten, it was time for some cooked food

 

Water bottles filled, we set off heading out of Buxton on NCN68 north.  This climb wasn't welcomed by Oliver or my sister and we decided to change the route slightly and stay on the NCN route rather than what I had planned, this proved to be a good decision as the sun came out & we had a few miles of road/farm tracks to ride along enjoying the countryside & each others company

 

We dropped down into Bugsworth Basin where we rejoined the route I had planned, having been here before I knew the way, we set off along the canal for a nice gently ride along the canal to New Mills, after 20-30min something didn't feel right and not what I remembered of this route, ooopppsss, I took us the wrong way!  after a little detour we arrived back at the basin and turned the correct way up the canal 

 

After 2minutes the sunshine had gone and a monsoon hit, we sought shelter under some trees and used this time for a snack stop.

The rain soon passed but having lost nearly 1hour & being cold/wet, everyone's spirits were suffering, I knew if we could make it to New Mills we could get food/drink & re-asses the days ride or even abandon the ride & catch a train home.

We had a lovely ride along the canal watching people enjoying their barge holidays & some people who were living in them, quite a few people chatted with us as Oliver became quite a talking point being so young and out for a weekend away cycling, this comradery lifted our spirits ready for our arrival into New Mills where the clouds cleared and the sun came out again.

 

We struggled to find anywhere open to get food that would allow 4 wet cyclists in where we could also keep an eye on our bikes so we settled for a Sainsburys lunch in the market square.

 

We decided we would continue as we only had 17miles to go and my wife could come and collect us at the next stop should she be needed.

 

We cycled out of New Mills, still following NCN68, the views were stunning, the route followed a number of small roads & a couple of unsurfaced roads and we made great progress and arrived in Hadfield having routed onto NCN62.

 

Final stop of the day was in Hadfield & is another of my Cafe Haunts

 

The sun was out, cups of tea/teacakes and tuna sandwiches were demolished as we prepared for the final 12miles over the Londendale Trail towards Dunford Bridge, the end was now in sight!

 

We followed the hard packed in the sunshine with a tailwind, Oliver was ecstatic when he realised where he was and knew he had some more rough trails to come, he then had great pleasure in telling his Auntie just how steep the climb is at the Woodhead Tunnels 

 

From the Top of Woodhead Pass we continued down NCN62 to Dunford Bridge & down towards Penistone where some sheep had got out of their field, we rode along behind the farmer as she was herding the sheep down to where they should be

 

Daily Stats

40.9miles 

2999ft climbed

4hr 15min riding time

 

 

A fantastic weekend & we can't wait to do this again.

 

Edited 15 May, 20179 yr by DarkPeakCycles

Excellent stuff. Great to see kids out with their parents doing something other than staring at a screen! Chapeau to the little chap.

 

My little guy is 6 and has done 22 miles in a day, but all flat. I'm thinking he and I might enter a 'kids go free' sportive if I can find one with a short route like 25-30 miles.

 

We took the Scouts along the Monsal trail last bank holiday, had a little walk through the gorge at the end and then cycle back to Bakewell. I had my own bike so had a quick trip round the Edale - Mam tor - Hope loop one evening. The Peak is a lovely place.

 

Did the Fat Lads sportive last week in Ilkley, think I saw some Holmfirth club jerseys there too.

 

Lovely to see people out on their bikes!

21 hours ago, edwards said:

Excellent stuff. Great to see kids out with their parents doing something other than staring at a screen! Chapeau to the little chap.

 

My little guy is 6 and has done 22 miles in a day, but all flat. I'm thinking he and I might enter a 'kids go free' sportive if I can find one with a short route like 25-30 miles.

 

We took the Scouts along the Monsal trail last bank holiday, had a little walk through the gorge at the end and then cycle back to Bakewell. I had my own bike so had a quick trip round the Edale - Mam tor - Hope loop one evening. The Peak is a lovely place.

 

Did the Fat Lads sportive last week in Ilkley, think I saw some Holmfirth club jerseys there too.

 

Lovely to see people out on their bikes!

 

I had the same issue with trying to find a sportive that was short enough for Oliver to enter, we found a Velo29 event in York which was 40miles & all flat, I used that as a guide to see how he coped with a 40 mile ride.  

 

I used to spend a lot of time cycling down to the Derbyshire end of the Peak District, as you say, it's a lovely place and you can ride the same route multiple times and it will always look different.

 

The Holmfirth Club get around.  I don't think Oliver would have such a love of cycling if it wasn't for them, they put so much time & effort into educating/training/supporting children at their Go Ride sessions & further through their development & into professional training for British Cycling.  

 

I highly recommend looking around for a cycling club that support children, the Go Ride sessions that Oliver attended were very well structured & fun, these led him into trialling Cyclocross & Road racing (his own choice), he was fully supported & encouraged by the club and his Go-Ride sessions were then tailored to his needs.

 

Matthew